ACCESS TO PRENATAL CARE FOR PREGNANT WOMEN IN SITUATIONS OF SOCIAL VULNERABILITY: AN INTEGRATIVE REVIEW

Abstract

Objective: to identify strategies to promote access to and adherence to prenatal care among pregnant women in situations of social vulnerability. Method: integrative literature review in nine databases. Studies that answer the research question, published in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, without delimitation of the date of publication, were included. To verify the methodological quality of the articles, the GRADE system was used. The information collected in the studies was organized and synthesized in a table containing eight categories. Results: from the search in the databases, 1096 publications on the subject were found, and of these, five were included, published in English, between 2015 and 2020. Several strategies to ensure access and adherence of pregnant women in social vulnerability to prenatal care were highlighted, in addition to the challenges to implement the proposed actions, forming two categories. Conclusion: the review identified multiple strategies adopted by health services and professionals to favor adherence to prenatal care, such as public policies, social support, home monitoring, telemedicine, use of health apps, group care, and flexibility in service hours. At the same time, multifactorial difficulties were evidenced that imply the application of these proposals to allow access to and adherence to prenatal care for pregnant women in vulnerability, which reinforces the need for further studies in this area. Protocol registered with PROSPERO (CRD42024620030).